2009 arrl rtty roundup - nccc home page · 2009 arrl rtty round-up ... weigh m/s advantages and ......

2009 ARRL RTTY RoundupDean Wood, N6DEEd Muns, W0YK

November 10, 2008 2

2009 ARRL RTTY Round-Up

November 2003: RTTY presentation at NCCC meetingJanuary 2004: NCCC won the first ARRL RTTY Round-Up

club competition

• Let’s win back the club competition gavel! (Dean)– History– What it will take?

• OK, so how do I get on RTTY? (Ed)– What is RTTY?– How do I set it up?– How do I operate RTTY?

November 10, 2008 3

Why the RTTY Roundup?

Top 5 List

5. Before January meeting4. Fun contest

– DX & NA, rates3. Competitive scores from

West Coast– Rules: mults, points, bands– Awards

2. Increased RTTY interest in NCCC– Survey, membership

1. ARRL club competition

November 10, 2008 4

RTTY Roundup – Club Competition

#1: PVRC#6: NCCC

#1: PVRC#2: NCCC

#1: PVRC#2: NCCC

#1: NCCC#2: PVRC

#1: NCCC#2: PVRC

Club # of LogsScoreYear

3519

1,440,226849,817

2008

3729

1,966,3781,291,583

2007

2832

1,355,0401,304,786

2006

3117

1,231,336854,520

2005

3616

1,441,423826,158

2004

November 10, 2008 5

2008 Medium Category Club Competition

19849,817NCCC

20859,038SMC

23869,991TCG

16887,626YCCC

29923,641MWA

351,440,226PVRC

# of LogsScoreClub

November 10, 2008 6

2008 RTTY RU: Lessons

• Over 45% of NCCC total came from 2 stations– W6YX: 2 M/S – both in Top 10– WC6H (WK6I op) – Pacific Division S/O HP plaque

winner– No other big stations were active for 24 hours

• Lowest number of NCCC logs since the club competition began– Can’t win by relying on a few huge logs– RTTY activity increasing heavily in other contest clubs– Concerted NCCC effort needed

November 10, 2008 7

2009 RTTY Roundup Club Strategy

WIN 2009 RTTY RU! – Goal: 51 logs => Unlimited Club Category– Make history, set record – 1st Unlimited entry!– Shock PVRC!

How to Maximize Club Score– Operate full 24 hours HP– Operate SO2R– If not possible, operate M/S for DX mult spots or full

time effort– Host an NCCC RTTY contester at your big gun station– 12-hour HMOs not beneficial

November 10, 2008 8

2009 RTTY RU Overview• 2009: January 3 18Z to January 4 24Z• Operate max 24 of 30 hours

– 6 hours off time in 1 or 2 blocks• Categories

– S/O HP & LP, M/S HP & LP (M/S: 6 band changes per hour) – Packet? Operate M/S. No S/O Assisted category.

• Exchange– US/VE: 599 + state/province– DX/KH6/KL7: 599 + serial number

• Mults– States, provinces, all other non-W&VE DXCC entities– Count once in entire contest

• Bands– 10m-80m. No 160m.– Work stations again on each band

• QSO Points – same for all bands and all stations

November 10, 2008 9

RTTY Activity on the Bands

• 10 meters: 28080-28100 KHz, during contests 28060-28150 KHz • 15 meters: 21080-21100 KHz, during contests 21060-21150 KHz • 20 meters: 14080-14100 KHz, during contests 14060-14140 KHz

– JA: 14070-14112 KHz• 40 meters: 7025-7050 and 7080-7100 KHz, during contests 7025-7100 KHz

– JA: 7025-7045 KHz– EU: below 7050 KHz

• 80 meters: 3580-3600 KHz, during contests 3570 (or lower)-3600 KHz – JA: 3520-3525 KHz

• 160 meters: No RTTY contesting

• Notes:– Avoid PSK-31 operations near 28120, 21070, 14070, 7070, 3580 KHz– Avoid the NCDXF beacons at 21150 and 14100 KHz– For more detail, see www.aa5au.com/gettingstarted/rtty_subbands.htm

November 10, 2008 10

RTTY RU Operating Tips1. Primary focus is on rate (U.S.)2. Pay attention to important DX

openings– Deviate from rate for bursts of

EU & AS mults– Run JA for short periods

3. Operate SO2R. Huge advantage.4. If possible, operate HP - makes a

difference with EU mults5. Operate as much as possible6. Weigh M/S advantages and

disadvantages (packet, band change restriction, full time operation)

7. Operate RTTY RU Practices (Thursday & Friday before contest)


RTTY Contesting

Still not convinced?

RTTY contesting provides:Great SO2R trainingDramatic growth in RTTY contesting activity

Example: 2008 CQWW RTTY – 2,120 logs, 10,730 callsignsAll time highs in activity keep getting broken

Something new to try during the sunspot minimumLots of awards and recognition opportunityGreat response on LOTWA lot of fun – new challenges


What is RTTY?

So how do I get on RTTY? What is RTTY?How do I set it up?How do I operate RTTY?

Ed Muns, W0YK


What is RTTY?

• The “other CW”• Two redundant RF carriers

– continuous key-down• Baudot encoding

– 45.45 Baud– 60 wpm


RTTY Basics – two carriers

http://rfwireless.rell.com/pdfs/TN_WJfsk.pdf


RTTY Basics – Mark and Space

• RTTY transmission is a continuous carrier which shifts frequencybetween two distinct frequencies– The lower RF frequency is known as the SPACE (14089.830)– The higher RF frequency is known as the MARK (14090.000)– The difference between the two is known as the SHIFT (0.170)

• FSK will display MARK (14090.000)– AFSK LSB will display suppressed carrier!! (14092.125)– AFSK LSB “tones” are 2.125 MARK & 2.295 SPACE

• Reversed on AFSK USB


RTTY Basics – tones

• “Tones” are like CW pitch• “Local” to your station

– What you “hear” in the headphones– What you “speak” into the microphone (AFSK only)

• Any audio frequency pair with 170 Hz shift– High tones: 2125/2295– Low tones: 915/1085

• Less fatiguing over a 24-hour contest!– RX and TX tones must be the same in AFSK– Radio and RTTY encoder/decoder must match


RTTY Basics – AFSK and FSK

• The difference is the way your transmitter generates the RF signal.• AFSK (Audio Frequency Shift Keying)

– AFSK is usually transmitted in LSB mode• Mark RF frequency is higher than Space RF frequency• Mark AF frequency is lower than Space AF frequency

– Mark (2.125kHz) and Space (2.295kHz) audio signals generated from computer sound card (or, hardware TNC) to Mic input on radio.

• FSK (Frequency Shift Keying)– Identical to CW Key input, but causes the carrier frequency to Shift

between Mark and Space. – Digital signal generated from Serial COM port on PC (or, hardware TNC)

to FSK input on radio

TNC = Terminal Node Controller (sometimes called a MODEM)


RTTY Basics – AFSK and FSK

• Why use FSK?– Ability to use your CW filters in most rigs– Easier than AFSK to set up

• No need to adjust audio drive• Why use AFSK?

– Your rig doesn’t have an FSK input– Same interface as PSK31– Ability to use NET so TX frequency tracks RX AFC– Easier than FSK to setup

• No need to fabricate or buy a FSK interface cable or box


PTT vs. VOX

• FSK uses PTT; AFSK can use either• PTT by:

– Footswitch (not recommended)

– Computer control• Dedicated COM port• Radio interface COM port

• (Semi Break-in FSK in the future)


RTTY Basics – letters and figures

• RTTY uses the 5-bit ITA2 code– 5 bits means only 32 characters can be represented– To get around this there are two “sets”, Letters and Figures– Each set uses 26 characters plus 6 common entries

• Letters mode– “A” through “Z” (26 CAPITAL letters)– Ltrs shift, Figs shift, null, space, carriage return, line feed

• Figures mode– “0” through “9”, various punctuation (26 characters)– Ltrs shift, Figs shift, null, space, carriage return, line feed

• Letters Shift and Figures Shift latches which set displayed


RTTY Basics – letters and figures

http://www.lions.odu.edu/~wstanley/11-text.pdf


RTTY Basics - letters and figures example

• The Letters Shift and Figures Shift do not print– The code for the character “Q” and “1” are the same, which

one prints depends on if you are in Letters or Figures mode– Note that the space character appears in both sets

• Example: “KI4GUO DE K4CZ” gets sent as:– LS KI FS 4 LS GUO space DE space K FS 4 LS CZ

• Why do we care to understand this?– If a burst of static garbles the LS or FS character what

prints after that is from the wrong set until the next LS or FS character appears


RTTY BasicsRTTY Activity on the Bands

• 10 meters: 28080-28100 KHz, during contests 28060-28150 KHz • 15 meters: 21080-21100 KHz, during contests 21060-21150 KHz • 20 meters: 14080-14100 KHz, during contests 14060-14140 KHz

– JA: 14070-14112 KHz• 40 meters: 7025-7050 and 7080-7100 KHz, during contests 7025-7100 KHz

– JA: 7025-7045 KHz• 80 meters: 3580-3600 KHz, during contests 3570 (or lower)-3600 KHz

– JA: 3520-3525 KHz• 160 meters: No RTTY contesting

• Notes:– Avoid PSK-31 operations near 28120, 21070, 14070, 7070, 3580 KHz– Avoid the NCDXF beacons at 21150 and 14100 KHz– For more detail, see www.aa5au.com/gettingstarted/rtty_subbands.htm


MMTTY


Hardware TNCs


FSK Keying Cable


Commercial RTTY Interfaces

RASCAL


MicroHAM Interfaces


A Blizzard of Details! (this is fun??)

Start Simple, Then Enhance• MMTTY (free)

– get RX and TX working– Trade-off

• FSK: keying/PTT cable, or• AFSK: audio cables + VOX

• Integrate with logging software– WriteLog (comprehensive help at www.rttycontesting.com)– N1MM Logger (free)– Win-Test

• Enhance– Audio isolation (highly recommended)– Commercial interface– Advanced setup: SO2R, multiple decoders, etc.


Tuning in a RTTY Signal

• Set RX audio level– noise just above zero

• Use narrow filtering– CW filters < 500 Hz

• Learn to tune by ear– practice with eyes closed– get within 10-20 Hz


Basic Contest QSOs

• CQ RU N6DE N6DE CQ• DE KI5XP KI5XP• KI5XP 599 CA CA• N6DE TU 599 LA LA• KI5XP TU N6DE CQ• DE P49X• P49X 599 CA CA• N6DE 599 1429 1429• P49X TU N6DE CQ


Message Buffers

• Short, as with CW/SSB• No extraneous info• 599 (not 5NN) once• Exchange 2-3 times• Space, not hyphen


Optimize Message Buffers


“All I receive is gibberish!”

• “Upside-down”– Reverse Mark & Space in

software– LSB vs. USB

• Figures vs. letters– TOO=599, PPQ=001 …– Shift-click to convert, or– Look at top two rows

• “Northwest rule”


“They never answer me!”

• “Upside-down”– FSK polarity switch in radio– AFSK mode, LSB vs. USB

• MMTTY AFC & NET– AFC is on by default! (and sometimes comes back on!)

• and, NET is off in AFSK


Resources

• chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/baudot.html• www.rttycontesting.com

– Tutorials and resources (beginner to expert)– WriteLog/MMTTY

• [email protected]– Email reflector– RTTY contester networking– Q&A

• Software web sites– www.writelog.com– mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/ (MMTTY)– pages.cthome.net/n1mm/– www.wintest.com

• Software Reflectors– [email protected]– [email protected]– [email protected] (general)– [email protected] (RTTY & PSK)– [email protected]


Isolation Transformer


W2IHY iBox


Multiple Receive Decoders

• Parallel decoding– Multiple windows

• Diverse conditions– Flutter– Multi-path– QRM, QRN– Weak signals


Super Check Partial & Pre-Fill

• SCP (Super Check Partial) enables computer to pick out call signs in receive window– Find probable call signs– ID new mults– Check for dupes

• Pre-Fill– Typing aid using prior log data– Log what you receive!


Accelerator Keys

• Stateful ‘Enter’ (ESM: Enter Sends Message)

• ‘Insert’: grabs call sign, sends exchange• ‘+’: logs QSO, sends TU/CQ• Tail-end macro• Re-map key locations


What Makes a Great RTTY Op?

• Distinguishes contesting from rag-chewing• Uses CW & SSB techniques where useful• Strives to exploit RTTY uniqueness

– Auto-decode frees operator time … use it to do things difficult with CW & SSB, e.g., SO3R!

– Speed is ~2x CW• Applies learnings back to CW & SSB


Acknowledgements

• www.rttycontesting.com, since 1990s– Don, AA5AU

• NCCC presentation, November 2003– Mark, K6UFO– Marc, W6ZZZ– Dean, N6DE– Bryan, AC6JT

• PVRC presentation, April 2008– Barry, K4CZ

• Dayton CTU (ConTest University), May 2008– Ed, W0YK

2009 arrl rtty roundup - nccc home page · 2009 arrl rtty round-up ... weigh m/s advantages and ......

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